Entrance

At precisely nine in the morning, the Gate of the Garbage Dump finally opened once more. As the gang members filed out, the impoverished people who had already gathered outside the Garbage Dump finally began to move, surging into it. This time, no one stopped them.

Even though the Garbage Dump had a total of eight entrances, and each entrance bore the pressure of thousands of people, in less than an instant, more than a dozen people fell due to unsteady footing. In a place like this, falling meant they likely wouldn't get another chance to stand up.

However, these people wouldn't require Corpse Collectors to deal with them, as the Garbage Dump itself had a "garbage cleaning" function. According to Old Li, the Garbage Dump was like the digestive system of the Infinite City, digesting and decomposing garbage before finally turning it into a part of this world.

It was said that the Infinite City was initially just a high-tech community, but by digesting garbage from all over the world, this world had expanded to its current scale.

As for why they didn't usually throw corpses into the Garbage Dump... it was because, outside of Garbage Day, the Garbage Dump was in a "digesting" state. Forget entering; just opening the Gate would cause the people standing at the entrance to be completely decomposed by the power that surged out.

But it was precisely because of this mechanism that the Garbage Dump, where massive amounts of garbage descended every ten days, hadn't become the garbage mountains of his previous life.

Feng Xue hadn't come with the intention of earning a living, so naturally, he didn't rush in like those at the very front, risking a stampede. Instead, he moved slowly with the flow of the crowd.

However, this passive movement didn't last long. After passing through the relatively narrow Gate, the vast Garbage Dump, covered in massive amounts of garbage, appeared before his eyes. People quickly dispersed, either pulling carts or carrying baskets, and rushed towards anything that caught their eye.

At this stage, everyone still maintained some restraint. Because the amount of garbage was still relatively abundant, unless they encountered a True Thing, it was better to spend time picking up more scrap metal than fighting.

Feng Xue strolled through the center of the frenzied crowd, occasionally spotting one or two dazed figures by the roadside. They slowly got up from the garbage, looking bewildered. Feng Xue immediately understood that these were the "garbage people" who had fallen along with the trash.

"Pah, pah, pah... Didn't I just insult myself!" Feng Xue muttered a complaint about his slip of the tongue, then activated his Golden Finger and began scanning the ground before him.

He had to admit, the work uniform provided by the Locker Room was incredibly sturdy, especially the work boots. The thick soles wouldn't be pierced even when stepping on sharp blades, which made Feng Xue feel exceptionally secure while moving.

Perhaps due to the sheer amount of garbage around, Feng Xue's Golden Finger panel showed a vast number of entries with just a casual scan. This forced him to concentrate, searching for desirable Elements amidst the dense text.

"[Beauty], [Entertainment], [Cleanliness], [Weapon]... What is all this garbage... Wait? [Weapon]?! That's a good thing!"

Feng Xue numbly scanned a string of entries, his eyes suddenly sharpening. He slowly moved his head back, scanning the area he had just swept over. Finally, the [Weapon] Element entered his field of vision again.

He didn't delay. He immediately bent down and began to search the area his reticle was aimed at. After discarding some small stones, rags, or twisted metal strips, broken wooden planks, and the like, a short knife no longer than his forearm appeared in his sight.

Name: Peeling Short Knife

Elements: [Weapon], [Pillage], [Penetration]...

"This is..." Feng Xue's eyes widened. He immediately picked up the short knife and wrapped the blade with a prepared cloth strip to prevent it from tearing the container. Only then did he put it into the large-capacity backpack he had specifically bought for picking up garbage. Don't let its appearance as a simple canvas backpack fool you; without any brand value, it had cost him five hundred Tower!

After this auspicious start, Feng Xue's work enthusiasm was boosted. Although there was garbage everywhere, it was mixed with dirt, gravel, or concrete blocks. It shouldn't have originally been like this, but because the gang members conducted destructive mining to improve efficiency when screening for True Things, some buildings and large rocks were directly shattered. This directly led to many pieces of garbage that were originally independent being buried.

Experienced junk collectors could judge the probability of high-value garbage being buried in an area based on the distribution of surrounding concrete, sand, and soil. However, Feng Xue clearly lacked this ability. His appraisal ability was limited to the target his reticle was aimed at; it had no ability to penetrate the ground. Therefore, he could only repeatedly scan the garbage lying on the surface, or pick up overlooked items from the debris that other scavengers had unearthed from the sand and soil.

As he walked, Feng Xue saw a fallen large tree. Even the somewhat useful trunk had already been taken, leaving only the crown and scattered leaves on the ground. It looked bleak at first glance.

"[Death], [Wither], [Male]... I already have quite a few of these entries..." Feng Xue shook his head and was about to leave when his expression suddenly changed--

"Wait, it's one thing for trees to have the [Death] entry, but why is there also a [Male] entry?" Thinking of this, Feng Xue walked towards the entry and, sure enough, found a man's corpse amidst the tree canopy.

Through his studies during this period, Feng Xue had gained some skill in identifying corpses. He immediately saw that the man's cause of death was a gunshot wound, and he had likely died within the last two days. He was wearing a Ghillie Suit woven from leaves and branches, but there were obvious signs of disturbance. The firearm and ammunition he should have carried were no longer there.

"He must have died before crossing over..." Feng Xue muttered. He immediately stepped forward. Although the most valuable items were gone, there was still something on him that interested him--

The Ghillie Suit.

Name: Ghillie Suit

Elements: [Stealth]...

Yes, this simple item woven from branches and leaves had only one Element; everything else was garbled code. But the [Stealth] Element alone made Feng Xue very tempted.

One had to understand that Elements were accumulations of information. It might be different in the outside world, but within the Infinite City, even if Feng Xue knew how to weave a Ghillie Suit, it would be difficult to imbue it with the corresponding Element--unless he took up a related profession.

Feng Xue roughly folded the Ghillie Suit, his mood greatly improved. He suppressed the urge to leave immediately and continued to venture deeper into the Garbage Dump. However, soon, a loud roar suddenly sounded in his ears!